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Sol’s eyes flick to me in question, but I don’t have an answer for him. Storm’s never been one to seek touch, especially not somewhere so public. He’s not against Serena or us touching him, but for him to go to her like that is strange. Maybe it’s the mating bond Garrett says he accidentally started? I wasn’t so convinced he actually had before. It’s not something you just do, but between his beast’s behavior earlier and this… Maybe.
“At first, I didn’t think anything of it. She was new, and we didn’t know her, and it was my job to make sure the pack was safe. That’s what he told me.” He glares at his father, and I follow his gaze. The smile on his father’s face disgusts me, knowing he’s enjoying hearing his son spill this information, no matter how much it pains him.
“I only did it for a year or so before it started to feel wrong. Serena was our friend, and it felt wrong to bring him information about her, especially when I’d seen the way he treated her. His clear distaste for her.”
“One night, I told him I couldn’t do it anymore. He told me I didn’t have a choice—” he stops abruptly, turning to Serena. She moves as if to go to him, but Storm holds her tight, keeping her wrapped in his arms. His eyes are hard with anger as he watches Pike, waiting to see where this goes.
“He told me that if I didn’t, he would have Harlow go after her again and finish the job, and if she couldn’t, he could get someone else to do it.”
His words ring in my ears as my beast thrashes inside of me, desperate to rip Victor limb from limb for daring to threaten what is mine.
As much as I would love to do exactly that, I get the feeling there’s still more to this story, and no matter how much I might not want to hear it, I know I need to.
“Our parents have apparently been trying to find a way to get Asher off the council for years. He didn’t have an heir, and with Asher’s declining health, they thought it was only a matter of time before he would step down.”
Serena’s gasp makes him cringe, and I can’t blame him. We all know how much she loves her adoptive parents. They gave her a home and a life when she was just a lost little girl. They’re her everything, and there isn’t a single thing she wouldn’t do for them.
“Serena changed that. It’s why they sent Harlow after her to begin with. She was only supposed to scare her, maybe make her run away or call for help. Then Lyle’s dad would have had CPS get involved and find her a new home. But she never came forward, and worse, it put her in our path. He thought we had god complexes, and that’s why we went to her. We wanted to save her, and someday we would outgrow her. He was wrong, though, so instead, he enlisted me to try to help him get information, something to help him find a way to get Asher out. When I told him I wouldn’t anymore, he realized we were already in too deep. Of course, he chose to use that against me, though, if I didn’t marry Harlow, keep her happy, and unite our families, he would have killed Serena…” his voice cracks, and I let my eyes fall closed, feeling the pain of those words like a knife to my chest.
“Asher’s health was enough that he wasn’t their concern anymore, but Serena could be. Our parents saw how we protected her, the friendship we were building, and how we cut Harlow off after that night. If Serena took the council spot, they would lose their hold over the city to her, and they couldn’t have that now, could they?”
“I will not have my pack answering to that bitch! She’s prey! She doesn’t know the first thing about a pack or how to lead. I should have let them hunt her for sport like I wanted!” He turns to me, pointing a finger in my direction. “But your father said no. He thought we could use the girl to keep you all in line. He’s just as soft as my pussy son and the rest of you! I knew she would be a problem.”
Hearing that my father is also in on this is a blow. We might not always get along, but I never imagined he would stoop so low as to try to hurt Serena, or me, this way. I can only imagine it’s worse for the twins, who grew up with the most stable of houses. Their mother always seemed to adore Serena, which either meant she was lying or she didn’t have a choice but to go along with what the others wanted. Neither is a very good option. Blair, I’m sure, couldn’t care less. I’m not even sure the last time he spoke to his parents, if I’m being honest.
Victor turns on Harlow, of all people, and continues his rant.
“If you hadn’t been so weak, you could have handled her before all this. Instead, you turned tail and ran, all because you couldn’t stand the smell of her burning flesh! You’re no better than her, just as weak!” he spits, and I don’t even get to enjoy the look of shock on Harlow’s face as he turns on her. Serena’s whimper is quiet in the grand scheme of the room, but it hits us hard. That was one of the worst nights of her life. She’s had nightmares about it for years, and I’d be lying if I said the way we found her didn’t haunt ours as well.
One moment, Blair is beside me, and the next, his beast is there. The Ashwood house might be big, but not even their ridiculously large dining room is enough to house a fifty-foot, two-thousand-pound snake comfortably.
Rebecca’s scream rings out around the room a second after Blair’s tail coils around her husband. Blair isn’t rash in his decisions, something the rest of us can’t always say, but he is very serious about Serena’s well-being. He has been since the day we found her, always silently watching and ready to come to her aid. We each have our roles in our pack, and that’s his, regardless of how mad it might make Serena to be ‘babysat.’
I watch with sick satisfaction as Victor squirms. He tries to get free, to shift, or call on his element, anything he can, only to fail. It’s useless. I know from experience Blair’s hold is all-consuming, even for us. It’s probably for the best that he was gifted his beast, with him being the most level-headed of our group, but damn if I don’t wish it was me squeezing the life out of that bastard right now.
I don’t need to look to my brothers to know they all feel the same.
We don’t move, even as Rebecca joins him in his struggle. Desperate, she tries her element, whipping him with water, but it does nothing; it simply rolls off his scales.
Pike’s siblings stand and watch, either in shock or fear. I can’t be sure, nor do I really care. Harlow and her parents seem to have taken the turn of events as their time to slip away like the cowards they are. It’s probably for the best, though. Blair isn’t known to go easy on people who hurt Serena, and he already promised to pop Harlow’s head off as it was.
“Blair!”
Serena finally breaks out of Storm’s hold and all but slams into Blair’s beast, her arms going around him the best they can manage with him shifted. Gods, she’s always been small, but seeing her next to our beasts is another thing altogether.
Regardless of how small she might be, Blair’s attention goes to her, drawn to her voice and touch.
He doesn’t loosen his hold on Victor or pay Rebecca any attention as he lowers his head to listen to whatever Serena has to say.
“Don’t kill him! Please don’t kill him for me,” she says, almost pleading with him, not at all surprising me. Serena is tough, when she needs to be. She could kill if she had to, I’m sure, but that doesn’t mean she likes it, and she would never want us to do it for her.
Blair makes no move to release him, though.
“He’s not worth it. We have Pike, we have each other. If you kill him, the council will be upset. It will only make everything harder for all of us,” she tries to reason with him, but still, he doesn’t seem to care.
She’s right, of course, but in the grand scheme of things, the council isn’t something I’m concerned about, and it doesn’t look like Blair is either.
“Fuck them!” she shouts, angry tears welling in her eyes before she quickly swipes at them. She’s always hated that she cries when she’s frustrated. I personally think it’s adorable.
